1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method for the filling of a metering apparatus of a therapy device having an extracorporeal circuit with which the metering apparatus is in communication such that an agent can be infused into the extracorporeal circuit by means of the metering apparatus during the operation of the therapy device, with the method comprising the step of diluting a concentrate located in the metering apparatus with a diluting agent before the start of the patient treatment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In extracorporeal blood treatment processes, anticoagulants, in particular heparin, are used to prevent blood clotting during the treatment.
The supply of the anticoagulant typically takes place via a syringe pump which delivers the anticoagulant directly into the extracorporeal blood circuit of a therapy device.
The heparin syringes to be inserted into the syringe pump, which typically have a volume of e.g. 30 ml, are first initially manually filled with a small amount of concentrated heparin by the dialysis staff in accordance with the prior art, said concentrated heparin then being diluted to the desired concentration by the manual metering of physiological saline.
The filling of the heparin pump thus typically takes place separately in accordance with the specifications of the physician and individually for each patient by the treatment staff before the filled syringe is connected to the blood hose system.
The treating staff has to manufacture the amount and concentration of the diluted heparin in the heparin syringe such that a specific dose can be dispensed in accordance with the medication at a specific delivery rate of the syringe pump. The different parameters to be observed must be converted or calculated manually by the staff, with this procedure as a rule taking place individually and separately for each patient before the start of treatment in accordance with the medication specified by the physician.
Consumables such as disposable gloves, a disposable syringe with needle for the transfilling of the concentrated heparin and a flask of physiological saline and disinfectant are required for each patient for the making available of the syringe filled with diluted heparin. The procedure takes several minutes in each case for each patient and is not only time-consuming, but, as stated, also prone to error.
It is known from the prior art that heparin syringes prefilled with a mixture of concentrated anticoagulant or of heparin and physiological saline are inserted into syringe pumps on dialysis machines and heparin is infused into the extracorporeal blood circuit, that is into the patient's blood, in accordance with a specific dose specification. Reference is to be made by way of example to U.S. Pat. No. 5,015,226 and to U.S. 2005/0234382 A1.